Jovan Belcher's jersey hung from its usual peg at Arrowhead Stadium. Alongside it were all the other tools of his trade: a helmet, shoulder pads, game pants and two sets of cleats – interchangeable depending on the weather and the condition of the field. Long after the conclusion of his team's second win of the season, not an item in the player's locker had been touched.

And yet, on Sunday afternoon, Belcher's was one of only two lockers left untouched. The other belonged to Kevin Boss, a tight end who is on injured reserve. Shortly before noon local time, the rest of their team-mates had suited up to face the Carolina Panthers – their scheduled opponent for week 13 of the NFL season. Their head coach Romeo Crennel, a witness to Belcher's final moments, stood among them, doing his best to help them to focus on the task at hand.

To many observers, such scenario was unthinkable. How could a team be expected to go about their usual business in the wake of such a devastating incident? Is the completion of a sporting fixture now more important than grieving over such loss of life?

The decision to press ahead had not been imposed by the league, but reached after lengthy consultation with the team and local authorities. For the Chiefs, Crennel and his players had been given the final say. "I decided to leave it up to [them]," team owner Clark Hunt told the NFL Network. "I called Coach Crennel and asked him to call the captains and see what they thought the right decision was.

"So he called the six captains, who heard from their teammates, and they unanimously believed the right decision was to go forward with the game. That's how we made the decision, it was really a team and coaching staff decision."

It cannot have been an easy one for Crennel. He had communicated the news of Belcher's death to the team only hours earlier, with quarterback Brady Quinn later noting that the coach had barely been able to get the words out. The alternative, though, might only have been a postponement of a day or two. With both teams having long since used up their bye weeks, there was no wriggle room left on the schedule and the NFL is not in the habit of cancelling games altogether.

A poll run by the Kansas City Star found an almost even split between readers who felt the game should go ahead and those who didn't, but in the admittedly self-selecting crowd tailgating outside Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday morning there were few dissenting voices to be found. Just a few minutes' walk from the lot where Belcher shot himself, fans grilled, talked, threw footballs, and otherwise carried on with their usual pre-game rituals.

"I think they needed to go out and play it," said Jim Rucker, a season ticket holder of 26 years. "I think that you can see by all the fans here that you can't let one person's actions decide the rest of everyone's lives. It was a tragedy, but I really just feel sorry for the three-month-old daughter left behind. That's the really sad part."

There was little sympathy to be found for Belcher, but a great deal for his daughter. "The real victim is his daughter, obviously," said Bob Danley, a regular at Arrowhead since 1978. "Unfortunately in a week she'll probably be forgotten. The story will live on forever, but the daughter will be forgotten. That's the sad part."

Danley, a former funeral home worker, has been coming to games since for more than a decade in a customised hearse and said he had not thought twice about his means of gameday transport. "It's probably less appropriate today than most days, but it's still my Chiefs vehicle," he said. "Regardless of one man's mistakes, I'm not going to change that." (The vehicle is red and white rather than black).

Despite a listed attendance of 62,860 for the game, it was clear inside the stadium that no more than half of seats were occupied. Nobody could say for sure how much that had to do with the weekend's events, and how much should be ascribed to the fact the Chiefs had not won a game at Arrowhead in almost a year. A Panthers team with a 3-8 record hardly represented a big draw either.

After a moment's silence in honour of all victims of domestic abuse, those present began to go through the familiar motions. Fans still substituted a cry of "Chiefs!" for the word "brave" at the end of the national anthem, still booed the Panthers' players as they entered the field and still made a racket as the opposition lined up for key third downs. They still danced in the appropriate manner when Gangnam Style was played over the public address.

If not exactly muted, then they had perhaps begun with the volume turned down a notch or two. But as the game progressed, normal service was restored. When Panthers quarterback Cam Newton saw a pass batted down on third-and-20 with less than eight minutes remaining and the Chiefs boasting a rare fourth quarter lead, they responded with a roar worthy of a much larger crowd.

Those fans would eventually be rewarded with a 27-21 win that means little for the standings, but which undoubtedly held an additional significance to the players on the field. It was reported by the local ESPN Radio affiliate that a group had been instructed not to wear patches remembering Belcher – the team not wanting to be seen honouring a murderer. But within the locker room many felt conflicting emotions.

Running back Dexter McCluster wore a T-shirt commemorating Belcher, while defensive tackle Shaun Smith acknowledged the internal conflict. "I'm going to miss him," he said. "But I feel sorry for [Perkins's] family, too, because they lost a loved one. We've got to continue to stay strong and stay together."

Some players declined to speak to the press – most notably Jamaal Charles. The running back had played a starring role for his team, taking 27 carries for 127 yards, but had an even closer involvement in the weekend's tragedy than most, as Perkins was his wife's cousin.

Crennel – fresh from an emotional post-game address to his team - did address the media, but stated up front that he would not be answering any questions about the previous day's events. Instead he praised his team for the way they had focused on the task at hand. "I thought that was the best thing we could do," he said of the decision to play. "If for no other reason it takes our minds off our misery for a few hrs."

He was under no illusions that it would provide any longer-team relief. "It's not over today, it will still go on tomorrow and the next day and the next day, but life is going to go on as well," he said. "After we leave here, we'll still work through the tragedy we had to endure yesterday."

A tragedy which will continue to define the lives of Crennel and many of these players long after Belcher's jersey has finally been taken down. But especially that of a three-month-old girl who will never know her parents.

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